Your Payroll Integration Must Pass These Fields or Contributions Will Be Wrong
SECURE 2.0 requires specific payroll data fields — prior-year SSA wages, super catch-up designation, Roth catch-up flags — that most pre-2026 integrations don't include. PayKonnect has been SECURE 2.0-ready since January 2026.
Technical Overview
Integration layer support for all SECURE 2.0 Act catch-up contribution data requirements. Includes Roth catch-up designation flag (Section 603), super catch-up designation for participants aged 60–63 (Section 109), prior-year Social Security wages, and YTD Social Security wages. Updated December 2025 ahead of the January 1, 2026 IRS final regulations effective date.
The Pain Point This Eliminates
The IRS issued final Roth catch-up regulations in September 2025, effective January 1, 2026. Payroll systems that don't emit the correct fields will cause recordkeepers to reject contributions or process them into the wrong source type — creating correction work, participant complaints, and potential IRS compliance liability.
Compliance Angle
IRS Final Regulations on Roth Catch-Up (T.D. 10004, September 2025): The $145,000 FICA wage threshold determines mandatory Roth designation. Plans using a payroll aggregator must ensure the aggregator passes the correct prior-year FICA wages field. Super catch-up limit: $11,250 for 2026 (Section 109, SECURE 2.0 Act).
Who This Capability Serves
Why SECURE 2.0 Is a Payroll Integration Problem
Most compliance discussions about SECURE 2.0 focus on plan design and participant communication. But the actual execution happens at the payroll level — because payroll is where catch-up contributions are withheld, and payroll is where the data fields required for correct designation must originate.
If a payroll system doesn’t send prior-year Social Security wages to the recordkeeper, the recordkeeper cannot determine whether a participant earning $145,000+ must designate their catch-up as Roth. The integration fails silently — contributions are processed, but possibly into the wrong source type.
The Three Fields That Matter
Prior-year Social Security wages (FICA wages) — Required to determine the $145,000 threshold for mandatory Roth catch-up designation. This is prior-calendar-year compensation subject to Social Security tax. The IRS September 2025 final regulations make clear that plans using a payroll aggregator must ensure the aggregator passes this field correctly.
Super catch-up designation flag (ages 60–63) — Participants in this age range are eligible for a higher catch-up limit: $11,250 for 2026 (vs. $7,500 standard). This requires an explicit designation flag in the contribution data so the recordkeeper knows to apply the higher limit.
YTD Social Security wages — Required for in-year tracking of super catch-up eligibility. As YTD wages accumulate across the calendar year, the catch-up treatment may change.
Evidence: Empeon’s December 2025 Update
PayKonnect’s December 2025 update to add SECURE 2.0 fields is documented in Empeon’s release notes for their PayKonnect 401(k) integration. The update added prior-year and YTD Social Security wages to the integration output — confirming that PayKonnect was ready before the January 1, 2026 effective date.
This isn’t a planned future capability. Payroll companies using PayKonnect have been sending these fields to recordkeepers since the IRS deadline.
See the full SECURE 2.0 payroll integration overview for regulatory context and the 180° integration details for how these fields fit into the complete payroll-to-recordkeeper data flow.
Frequently Asked Questions
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